Building block or element



Jan. 27, 1942. M. PALANTI BUILDING BLock on ELEMENT Filed April 25, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 27, 1942. M. PALANTI BUILDING BLOCK OR ELEMENT Y "Filed April 25,. 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a Q Q fnz fen'fl; I

Patented Jan. 27, 19 42 BUILDING nLocKoR ELEMENT Marlo Palanti, Milan, Italy Application April 25, 1939, Serial No. 270,031 In Italy May 16, 1938 8 Claims. (cums) The present invention concerns a building block or element which is particularly adapted for dry masonry work.

The advantages which dry masonry work can offer are well known, particularly those of economy of outlay and of time, and the possibility of dismantling and of recovering the entirety of the building materials.

This type of masonry work has, however, been very rarely used heretofore owing to the inherent general disadvantages of the known building elements, for instance the inflltering of air and of water into the interior of the .building due to capillarity.

The masonry block or element for dry construction, according to the present invention, avoids these disadvantages and properly fulfils its purpose. Besides the advantage of completely preventing the penetration of air and water by capillarity, it offers the other advantage of being capable of manufacture in a single pattern and of being so designed and shaped as to enable standard masonry to be built up of any thickmess with angles. quoins, crossings, bonds, headers and any other usual constructional features,

without necessitating the use of any other com-- plementary block, element or part thereof.

According to this invention, I provide a block or element for dry masonry or building construction, having a parallelepiped shaped, wherein one or both pairs of opposite outer side surfaces of the block or element have a portion of longitudinally undulated, e. g. of sinusoidal or similar form, such undulated portion being located between two longitudinal flat portions, said block or element having on one at least of its outer walls a projection or rib and on the wall remote from said first wall, a groove or recess, the said projection or rib being adapted to engage or key with the groove or recess on an adjacent block or element, and vice versa.

Other features of the invention are disclosed hereinafter, in the specific description and claims.

The attached drawings, illustrate, by way of example, somev embodiments of the invention, and

in these drawings- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a building block according to one'embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates the same in side view.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section along line III-III of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section along line IVIV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section along line 'V-V of Fig. l.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified block having hollow walls, and

Fig. 7 shows one of the many possible assemblies of blocks according to the invention to form a section of a wall.

The block illustrated in the'-=drawings is substantially a parallelepipedii'n shape, and is formed on a substantialii rectangular base (whose larger sides are a multiple of the shorter ones) or a substantially square base (corresponding in the latter case to half a rectangular block) and has four longitudinal walls enclosing one, two or more cavities.

In the case of rectangular blocks, the two shorter longitudinal walls have longitudinally wave-shaped surfaces, the projecting parts of these surfaces being numbered 2 and the inwardly curved or recessed parts being .numbered I These curved surfaces are located between plane surfaces 3 which also extend longitudinally and are identical one with another.

The two longer walls of the block are twice as long as the short walls and are each made up from a pair of short walls arranged in series. Thus, regarded from the exterior, these longer walls comprise first a plane surface 3, then two longitudinally wave-shaped parts I and 2, a plane centre part 4 (corresponding to two adiointed surfaces 3--3), two further wave-like parts I, 2, identical with those previously mentioned, and finally a further plane surface 3. The undulations 1 and 2 are not very pronounced, the object being to provide the walls of substantially constant thickness. It is clear that, with longitudinal exterior surfaces so shaped, a plurality of the blocks can be arranged side by side and flush with one another, or can be arranged at right angles to each other, so that the adjacent or contacting surfaces always have a perfect fit.

One of the head surfaces of the block is moulded with plane sides 3', cavities l' and projections 2', corresponding respectively to the longitudinal surfaces 3, I and 2 and this both with reference to the shorter side as to the longer side of the block. These head surfaces are also provided with ribs leach extending around both cavities 6 of the block under consideration, following the recesses, projections or plane portions of the head surface. The other head surface of the block is provided with projections and rethere is a recess of corresponding sectional shape to the rib 5 which is adapted to mate with the latter. The ribs-5, forming projections around the cavities 6 at the centre, prevent the penetration of water by capillarity, and also the passage of air, even when the latter exerts a high pressure in bad weather.

As stated already, the block can be made with a substantially square base, corresponding to onehalf, or a fractional portion of a rectangular block. In such a case the block will have a single central cavity 6 and the outside surfaces of the longitudinal walls will all be alike As shown in Fig. 6, the walls of the blocks may also be hollow, particularly in the case of baked brickwork, this arrangement being particularly suitable for floor-building, both plain or steelreinforced, according to the size of the room.

The shape and the number of undulations l and 2, and of the plain surfaces 3 and ribs ,5, may vary from what has been above specified, provided the principle of the arrangement illustrated is adhered to, and the elements are prop erly mated when mounted in aligned or perpendicular positions. Said blocks can be used very well for straight arch mouldings without the use of iron, when the rooms are of small size. With obvious alterations in the shape of the blocks specified above, one may obtain walls with curved horizontal and vertical surfaces. For example, in the case of curved walls, the blocks may have sides shaped as arcs of a circle, instead of plane sides. Again, blocks may be provided having both bases curved or inclined, instead of being horizontal.

One or more longitudinal cavities can be provided in each block, and the number of undulations and outlines of the walls can be varied, provided the possibility is still afforded of arranging the blocks side by side, or in superposed upstanding or horizontally-disposed assembly, with a perfect interfitting between the projections and recesses.

It is to be understood that the above blocks can be made out of any suitable material or conglomerate, baked or raw.

Having now particularly described and ascering to the cavitied parts I of the other block, and

tained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. A block for dry masonry and like buildving construction comprising a body having a parallelepiped shape, at least one pair of vertical opposite outer side surfaces of the body having longitudinal flat portions and a portion of longitudinally sinusoidal-like form, said sinusoidal-like portion being located between two of said longitudinal flat portions, the outer horizontal surfaces of said body having partly sinusoidal-like form and a projection on at least one of the horizontal surfaces of the body and a groove in the surface of the body opposite said projection, the said projection being adapted to inter-engage with the groove in an adjacent block body and vice versa.

2. A block according to claim 1, characterized in that one pair of opposite outer side surfaces are of greater length thanthe other pair.

3. A block according to claim 1, characterized in that one pair of opposite outer side surfaces are of greater length than the other pair, the longer outer side surfaces of the body each including a pair of said sinusoidal-like portions arranged between said flat portions.

4. A block as claimed in claim 1 wherein the body is formed with at least one cavity, said projection and groove extending about the edge of said cavity. a

5. A block as claimed in claim 1 wherein the body is formed with at least one cavity, said projection and groove extending about the edge of said cavity, the cavity extending longitudinally of the body.

6. A block as claimed in claim 1 wherein the body is formed with at least one cavity, said projection and groove extending about the edge of said cavity said projections being symmetrically disposed in relation to the centre of gravity of the body.

7, A block according to claim 1 having an approximately square base and four side walls provided with said sinusoidal-like-portions.

8. A block according to claim 1, wherein the wall portions are made up of rectilinear parts.

MARIO PALANTI. 

